Greater Orlando Area Chamber of Commerce president John O. Riggle has resigned as president of Orlando operations for Florida National Banks of Florida Inc., but plans to stay with the bank until after its proposed merger into First Union Corp. scheduled for October.Susan Edelman, a spokeswoman for the Jacksonville-based bank holding company, confirmed Wednesday that Riggle - who left First Union last fall to join Florida National - ''has made a decision not to be a part of the combined First Union-Florida National,'' and plans to pursue other interests.

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Orlando operations have received two U.S.-sponsored foreign military deals worth a total of almost $50 million to provide weapons systems and support to Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to Department of Defense figures. Orlando-based Longbow LLC, a Lockheed-Northrop Grumman venture, received an Army deal worth $25.5 million to produce spare parts, ground-support equipment and related services to the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command. The work will be performed in Orlando through June 30, 2016.

With falling sales in its Orlando operations, Martin Marietta Corp.'s third-quarter profits fell by 4 percent from the same period last year, the defense contractor announced Wednesday.Martin Marietta, headquartered in Bethesda, Md., reported earnings of $96.1 million, down from $100.1 million last year. Earnings per share were up slightly - to $2.04 a share from $2 last year - because the company's stock repurchases reduced the average number of outstanding shares by 2.7 million.Sales were up slightly to $1.5 billion, from $1.4 billion in the 1991 quarter.

Ten women, including a 16-year-old runaway, were arrested as part of an operation targeting online prostitution ads, a Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation official reported Wednesday. Agents began their sting Tuesday, which focused on escort ads found on websites such as Backpage, said MBI Director Larry Zwieg. The women who arrived at the undercover location throughout the evening were arrested on a variety of charges, including violating Orange County ordinance. Some of the women, including 30-year-old Jacquelyn Money, have previous prostitution arrests.

ALTHOUGH MARTIN Marietta Corp. is contemplating a consolidation of its Orlando operations, the company's president and chief operating officer, A. Thomas Young, still considers Orlando home. ''Martin Marietta enjoys being in Orlando,'' Young said after a luncheon speech last week honoring the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League. Young, who once headed Orlando operations, keeps a home in Bay Hill.

Kissimmee-based Tupperware Brands Corp. saw its net income for the first quarter decline to $25.6 million from $32.1 million the previous year, says an earnings report released Tuesday night. However, much of the decrease was attributable to the negative foreign exchange rate. What would have been a 1 percent increase in sales turned into a 16 percent decline because of the foreign exchange rate. "What we really saw in the first quarter, especially in our established markets, was a shift in consumer sentiment between January and February from being almost frozen to slowly beginning to spend again," Chief Executive Officer Rick Goings said.

Nearly 700 workers at Super Food Services Inc. got a temporary reprieve Wednesday when the company said it will not immediately close its Orlando operations as it had previously announced.The Ohio grocery distributor had warned workers two months ago that large-scale layoffs would begin today. Instead, a letter was posted saying the company will stay open on a ''day-to-day'' basis.''We are going to keep trying,'' Vice Chairman John Demos said in the letter.Super Foods has been trying to sell its Orlando operations to Albertson's Inc., its largest client.

CB Commercial Real Estate Services Group Inc. plans to buy Koll Real Estate Services Inc., which opened an Orlando office only last year.What that means for the local Koll office likely won't be known for a while, said Bill Jones, Koll vice president of the Central Florida region.CB Commercial, of Los Angeles, has operated a full-service brokerage in Orlando for years.''I think it's a natural fit and good for both organizations,'' Jones said, adding that he expects the two Orlando operations to merge.

Alere Home Monitoring, which offers medical diagnostic-test services, is moving most of its Orlando operations to its headquarters in Livermore, Calif., resulting in layoffs for 106 local workers as of Aug. 5. The company said in a written statement Thursday that the move was being made to "increase efficiencies and consolidate services. " The company would not respond to questions, but the statement noted that the Orlando office, on South Keller Road near Eatonville and Maitland, will remain open and 40 employees from sales, marketing, human resources, payroll and information-technology support will continue to work there.

ORLANDO -- Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum leaves on a trade mission to China today. Lynum is representing Orlando as one of five members of the National League of Cities' International Council participating in the 10-day trip. The trade delegation of politicians and business executives will meet with Chinese counterparts in four cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Dongguan. Representatives of three companies with Orlando operations -- Tavistock Group, Star Transportation and The Home Depot -- also are attending.

MarJam Supply Co., a lumber and building-supply company based in Farmingdale, N.Y., is moving its Orlando location into a larger facility, with plans to expand its 18-person work force by as many as another 10 jobs during the next year. MarJam is moving from an industrial area in south Orlando near Michigan Street and Orange Avenue to bigger quarters on the west side of College Park near Orange Blossom Trail and Princeton Street. "Our expansion into the state of Florida is exceeding our expectations.

Alere Home Monitoring, which offers medical diagnostic-test services, is moving most of its Orlando operations to its headquarters in Livermore, Calif., resulting in layoffs for 106 local workers as of Aug. 5. The company said in a written statement Thursday that the move was being made to "increase efficiencies and consolidate services. " The company would not respond to questions, but the statement noted that the Orlando office, on South Keller Road near Eatonville and Maitland, will remain open and 40 employees from sales, marketing, human resources, payroll and information-technology support will continue to work there.

Robert Poff, disaster-services director for the Salvation Army in Haiti, sent this account of the earthquake's destruction Wednesday. Poff and his wife, Vicki, serve as caretakers of the army's Children's Home there, and his brother-in-law, Gene Daniels, is the army's operations manager in Orlando. When the earthquake struck, I was driving down the mountain from Petionville. Our truck was being tossed to and fro like a toy, and when it stopped, I looked out the windows to see buildings "pancaking" down, like I have never witnessed before.

Kissimmee-based Tupperware Brands Corp. saw its net income for the first quarter decline to $25.6 million from $32.1 million the previous year, says an earnings report released Tuesday night. However, much of the decrease was attributable to the negative foreign exchange rate. What would have been a 1 percent increase in sales turned into a 16 percent decline because of the foreign exchange rate. "What we really saw in the first quarter, especially in our established markets, was a shift in consumer sentiment between January and February from being almost frozen to slowly beginning to spend again," Chief Executive Officer Rick Goings said.

Nothing promotes certainty in the U.S. defense industry like the demands of war. So even as the credit crisis has shaken the nation's economy, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to fuel Pentagon spending and the financial prospects of U.S. defense contractors. In late 2007, Congress approved a defense budget of nearly $680 billion for fiscal 2008 -- up 8.4 percent over the previous year's budget. Nearly $190 billion alone was designated as supplemental war-time spending. Central Florida -- one of the nation's largest centers of defense work-- is in a good position to reel in a bonanza of new deals from the armed forces pipeline.

ORLANDO -- Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum leaves on a trade mission to China today. Lynum is representing Orlando as one of five members of the National League of Cities' International Council participating in the 10-day trip. The trade delegation of politicians and business executives will meet with Chinese counterparts in four cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Dongguan. Representatives of three companies with Orlando operations -- Tavistock Group, Star Transportation and The Home Depot -- also are attending.

George W. Koehn, chief executive of SunTrust Banks Inc.'s Orlando operations, took on additional responsibilities Monday as the No. 2 executive of the company's statewide business. Koehn, who got the title of president of SunTrust Bank Florida, picks up some chores formerly assigned to Theodore J. Hoepner, who remains head of the Florida operation with the chairman and chief executive titles. Koehn, 56, will take responsibility for SunTrust's retail and commercial banking strategies in Florida.

Southeast Banking Corp., looking for ways to cut costs after the worst year in its history, said Friday it plans to phase out its Orlando installment loan processing office beginning June 1, eliminating 130 jobs over a two-month period.Southeast is the third Florida bank in the past two months to announce operational cutbacks as they struggle to recover from a devastating year of real estate-related loan problems.Last month, Barnett Banks Inc. of Jacksonville announced plans to consolidate its Orlando regional office into its Tampa region, eliminating 340 jobs in Orlando.

Orlando-based CuraScript Inc. announced a major expansion Monday that will create 350 "high-value" jobs and add a second major building to its campus on Lee Vista Boulevard. Lured in part by $1.05 million in local and state incentives, the national pharmaceutical distributor will increase its current employee base in Central Florida from 2,200 to more than 2,500 by the end of 2007. CuraScript's expansion "illustrates Florida's booming economy, particularly in the health-care industries," Gov. Jeb Bush said in a written statement welcoming CuraScript's plans.